忍ぶ意思 Shinobu Ishi
Title: Part 1: Shinobu Ishi
Rating: PG13 (for mild violence)
Pairing: TBA, Ohno-centric
Genre: action, AU
Chapter: four
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Ohno Satoshi is the student of a strong ninja lord who has lived his life following his teacher’s strict guidance. But what happens when he slowly learns he has to live for himself?
Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three
In the months following the assassination, it was obvious the group had changed. When it had only been Nino and Ohno, they had worked together effectively, but there was always an energetic edge, an optimism that they were lucky to be working and showing their skills instead of rotting away on the street somewhere.
But now, even though they had the same confidence as before, Nino had become snide and sarcastic and because of that, the group had lost their vigor.
Their missions turned out perfectly every time, but Jyani could see that Nino was quieter than usual, not objecting to any missions (most of which had gone down in rank, although they were still harder than when the group had only been a pair) and had stopped boldly meeting Jayni’s eyes during their meetings. He was docile now, at least around the ninja master, but when the lord saw the group outside of the meeting hall the boy usually had a bitter smirk strapped to his face.
Jyani knew it couldn’t be helped, but that didn’t stop him from pitying the boy as well as his two comrades.
Today they had just returned from another mission (Jyani had lost count of how many the group had completed since Sho had arrived), one that should have been easy, especially with Satoshi’s tracking ability. There had been a man kidnapping girls from a village a few ri from the capital city. It was an estimated two days travel from the ninja village, but Satoshi’s group had made it in half the time (although that hadn’t come as much of a surprise to Jyani).
The mission had been complicated. The citizens of the city in which the girls had lived knew the man that had kidnapped them as well as a vague location of where they were being kept, but they had no solid proof of what was happening. And, not only could they not put him on trial because of that, but the Village Master had also signed a pledge against unwarranted violence, meaning that the villagers couldn’t reprimand the perpetrator themselves. Instead, they had scraped together enough money to hire Jyani’s Boys (the fame of the group had spread farther than just their own village: it was rumor now if you wanted to the job done right you went to Jyani; if you wanted the job done perfectly, you asked for Jyani’s Boys). Although the ninja master had been getting many requests for Ohno’s group, he filtered these fairly effectively, either assuring the client he’d have another adept group cover the mission or reject the offer for the time being.
His boys were progressing rapidly, that was true, but there was still a step process that they had to follow. The mundane, simple missions had to be completed before they would be prepared for the harder ones. But that didn’t mean that Jyani didn’t challenge them occasionally, and this was a contributing factor that led Jyani to accept this particular mission for the boys.
They had been dispatched after Jyani briefly listened to their strategy, and, as the ninja lord was looking over the report a few minutes after they had left him, he realized they had done an impeccable job.
And once they returned, Jyani still felt the same.
After picking up a little more information from the villagers (Sho had mentioned during the brief they had been treated with care by the townsfolk and had to refuse several presents offered to them-apparently they didn’t realize that their names were becoming known even outside their own community), it appeared Satoshi had led the group in the direction indicated, picking up tracks of, not only of a man, but also several women. They followed the trail and found a rundown cottage in the surrounding forest, although it showed no signs of any occupants.
With caution, the three boys had surrounded the house: Sho on the roof, Nino at the back window, and Ohno at the front door. After they were in place, Leader broke it down, his sword brandished, but before Ohno could dispose of the man properly, the villain had hidden himself behind several teenage girls immobilized by rope and silenced with cloth in their mouths.
Satoshi paused, as he should have in such a situation, and before the man could make any threats, Sho had broken through the roof, distracting him long enough for Nino to make his own entrance and slit his throat.
None of the women were harmed. The boys had accompanied them back to the edge of the village, but had departed soon after, as the mission was supposed to be somewhat discreet because of the Village Master. As far as the villagers were concerned, it had been a coincidence that the man had died (maybe one of the hostages had broken free?) and that each of the girls were accounted for.
After they had returned, Jyani listened to all of this with amusement, but missed the lack of jokes that no doubt with have been present if Kazunari had been his old naïve self. The ninja leader had to restrain himself from making side comments about a perverted old man and what did he need with that many women?
It had been another successful mission. He should be proud, especially at the complexity of the setup, but somehow Jyani knew that something was still missing, almost more now than when he had added Sho.
+++
Back in their room, Ohno was feeling almost exactly the same way.
Nino’s lack of energy had taken a toll on the leader, who had been trying to make up for it by being goofier than usual. Of course he wasn’t as good at it as Nino was, and his jokes weren’t nearly as intelligent, but he occasionally succeeded in making his friend really smile or giggle. It never lasted long, but every time it did happen, Ohno felt like maybe everything would be okay.
Sho had also taken to trying to cheer Nino up, but his gags, Ohno had soon discovered, were actually more like mistakes than an attempt to make Nino smile. The first time Sho had tripped on a rock and landed flat on his face, Ohno and Nino had laughed until they couldn’t breathe, and after Sho’s disgruntled look at the two of them, Nino fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. After seeing such a good reaction from Nino, Sho had smiled as well, but it wasn’t even five minutes later that Nino had been back to his melancholy self. He had tried to force a grin to cover the sudden change, but Ohno could see the difference.
The next time, they had been training in their usual clearing, which had expanded a little due to the addition of Sho, when suddenly the two old friends had heard a call from a nearby tree. With a furrowed brow from Ohno and a worried look from Nino, they scaled the tree only to find Sho entangled in some ivy hanging from the branches. He had somehow managed to twist himself up in it (neither of the other boys could figure why he was even up there in the first place) and one of his legs was caught as high as his shoulder, leaving Sho looking plainly ridiculous.
Ohno had thanked him later and Sho had simply looked at him in confusion.
“For trying to make Nino feel better…” Ohno had clarified with a blank expression.
Sho had blushed. “Oh… I… uh… yeah, yeah. I was trying to make Nino feel better…”
Ohno wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but either way, the result was the same (he’d just have to start watching out for Sho getting too close to ivy during their missions).
Maybe Nino would finally start returning to himself.
+++
Birthdays weren’t a big deal for ninja.
But for some reason Sho and Nino decided that Ohno’s 15th birthday was something worth celebrating.
He had been out fishing that day, since it was a day off after a particularly hard mission, and when he had returned, he found Nino and Sho discussing something rather intensely in their private room. At that point Ohno hadn’t even remembered what day it was and looked at them quizzically, since they stopped talking as soon as he opened the door.
Nino had brightened up immediately and Sho gave him an awkward smile. Ohno couldn’t help but return the action, although his own grin was rather lopsided. He didn’t know what was going on, but he was happy that Nino was acting lighthearted today instead of having to deal with the depression that had been hanging around his friend lately.
Ohno continued to stare at the two of them with a clueless smile while they looked back without offering an explanation.
Nino was the one to eventually break the silence. “Oh-chan?”
Satoshi only brightened at the nickname. It felt like it had been so long since Nino had called him that.
His lips turned up a little farther as he silently asked what Nino wanted from him. He’d give him the world if that smile stayed on his friend’s face a little longer.
Nino looked at Sho questioning before tentatively asking “Shall we go out?”
Sho nodded at Nino and mumbled a positive response, the nervous smile still in place.
The two of them stood and pulled Ohno back the way he came, barely giving him enough leeway to drop his fishing pole in the corner.
Ohno didn’t ask, just continued to show his bliss-filled expression as Nino slung a hand over one of his shoulders and Sho tentatively covered the other, the three of them heading towards the village.
“Oh-chan, you didn’t eat anything yet, right?” Nino asked cutely, offering him another small grin.
“No, I haven’t…” the boy replied, the oblivious look still in place on his face. Although Ohno was almost two and a half years older than his long-time friend, they were roughly the same height and fit together comfortably. Sho, though, seemed to have already hit his growth spurt and so Ohno had to look up as the archer finally contributed to the conversation.
“How about some ramen, then?” His awkwardness had vanished and now he just seemed like he was enjoying himself with the other two.
“Yeah, that sounds good!” Nino chimed in, touching Ohno’s head lightly with his own as he looked at Sho.
Ohno just continued to smile.
The shop that the group frequented was one of the only full-time businesses in the village. They made pretty much any food you could request and didn’t have a set menu, but Nino always asked for ramen and therefore Ohno did too. It was hard to mix it up after you got into a habit.
When they sat down at their regular spot at a short wooden bar, the shop owner bustled out from the back storage room and gave them a prompt nod and a grin. “The usual, then?” he asked, and all three of them nodded in unison, then laughed because they had done so.
Nino usually sat in the middle, but today they waited until Ohno sat down first, and then the other two surrounded him. The leader thought it was mildly strange, but it couldn’t be the same all the time, right?
Their steaming bowls of soup came quickly and, although Ohno was preoccupied with slurping the tasty noodles, he spared some of his attention to trying to figure out why the two of them were acting strange. It wasn’t in a bad way, really, just… suspicious.
They finished the meal in no time at all and Ohno patted his belly with a satisfied sigh. It had been delicious, as it always was. He told the owner as much and received a thankful smile in return.
Leader reached into his sash to pull out a few coins, but Nino stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Here you are,” he said, already passing the money to pay for their meal.
Nino, the ninja who was infamous in the village for talking down the price of his book purchases by fifty percent from the merchant who traveled back and forth to their village. Nino, the ninja who would volunteer to run errands for the kitchen at the Main Building because sometimes he got to keep the change. Nino, the ninja who had forced Ohno and Sho to eat rice balls with pickled filling instead of salmon because it was slightly cheaper.
This Nino was paying for Ohno’s meal.
He was confused again.
“Nino, you don’t have to-“ he started with a furrowed brow, but his friend cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“Nah, it’s okay. How about some desert?” The youngest ninja smiled happily and Ohno simply couldn’t argue with him.
“Sure…”
With a wave to the stop owner, the trio stepped back onto the street, Nino sighing happily and looking around, apparently deciding where they should have desert. Actually, the only option was the local food shop, which made dango and sweet rice cakes to sell.
Without verbalizing the decision (since it was obvious to all of them) Nino led the way to their next stop. It wasn’t even five steps later when he fell backwards, though, to where Sho had started dragging his feet behind the couple, and elbowed the newest member roughly in the side. Ohno stopped and looked at them, but Nino was forcing a tense smile and staring at Sho while he rubbed his waist with a pinched expression.
“Oh!” the archer said suddenly, his voice forced. “I forgot something.” He smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “I need to run back to the Main Building, but I’ll catch up with you guys at the store?”
Ohno blinked at him, but Nino smirked knowingly and muttered, “That’s fine!”
As Sho took off back the way they had come, Nino skipped forward and grabbed Ohno by the arm, pulling him towards their destination.
They were greeted with another glowing smile and light bow from this shop’s owner, a middle aged woman, and she immediately filled their request for three sticks of dango.
And Nino paid again.
Ohno thought for a second he might be dreaming, but he was sure the Nino in there wouldn’t be offering to pay for anything either.
The real life Nino did talk the owner into a minor discount, though, since he had bought three and hadn’t he helped her with that favor a few months ago, and so Ohno figured he probably wasn’t dreaming.
The two of them sat down on a bench in front of the store, facing the main street of the village, and waited for Sho to return. Nino already began to nibble on his treat, and although Ohno felt he should wait until Sho rejoined them, when he didn’t show up within thirty seconds, he started on his as well.
As they were finishing, they noticed Sho heading down the street towards them quickly, a bundle in his hands. Ohno wondered what it was that Sho had forgotten and why it was so big.
The boy didn’t stop running until he was right in front of them, panting from the physical exercise, and leaned over with the package still in his hands, which turned out to be a cheaply made wooden box, long and flat, resting on his thighs.
Ohno blinked at him and then held out Sho’s share of the dango.
The boy opposite him began to laugh, although he was still out of breath, and Ohno heard Nino’s own giggling at his side. Ohno didn’t understand what was so funny, but a second later, Sho took the dango and handed him the box instead.
“Happy Birthday, Oh-chan!” he said merrily, sitting in the open space on the other side of Ohno.
The oldest boy looked at Sho, then at the box in his hand (which was half lying in Nino’s lap), and then at his childhood friend, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Happy Birthday, Oh-chan!” Nino repeated. He motioned to the box. “Me and Sho-chan got you a present.”
Ohno looked at the box in surprise. He’d never gotten a present before, outside of a shiny rock that Nino had found once and the hand-me-down finishing pole that Jyani had passed on to him.
“You…?” he looked at the box again, unsure of what he had meant to say.
“Open it! Open it!” Nino cheered, bouncing in his seat a little, while Sho took a large bite of his desert.
Ohno swallowed, but pushed back the lid of the box.
Inside, packed in sawdust, was a beautiful, shiny sword.
Nino watched happily as his friend’s face turned from surprised, to pleased, to embarrassed. Ohno looked back at him, then at Sho, unable to say anything. When he turned back to the gift, he reached inside the box and touched the scabbard tentatively, running his fingers along the length of the sword.
He couldn’t lie. Nino was proud of the present the two of them had thought up. Sho had suggested that they do something for Ohno’s birthday and although that wasn’t really a custom that happened around this area, Nino was glad for an excuse to see Ohno lighten up. It seemed like since Jyani had named him Leader that he’d been struggling between being friends with the two of them and being a good example. Nino thought he had done a fine job of that before Sho had ever come into their lives, but Ohno over-thought things surprisingly often for how simple-minded he was. Although Nino knew that he was in a funk too, somehow making Ohno happy took precedence over his own.
The sword had been mostly Sho’s idea too, although Nino wouldn’t admit it. The older boy had suggested they get something practical that wouldn’t weight Ohno down, preferably something that he needed.
Although Ohno didn’t exactly need a new sword, since he kept his sharp, clean, and generally in good shape, it was the only idea that the two of them had come up with. Besides, Ohno had been using the same sword for as long as Nino could remember, and he thought that Ohno had mentioned once that Jyani had issued it to him and that it was fairly standard equipment.
The pair had gone out early that morning, waiting until Ohno had left the Main Building, and had talked with the man at the forge about what he had available. Since they lived in a ninja village which was always in need of a steady arsenal of weapons, the forge was considerably large when you took into account the size of the town, and therefore had a decent selection of tools for them to look at. Nino had told the metal worker to disregard price and give him the best katana they had.
Although the design was almost identical to Ohno’s usual sword, this one had a slightly more intricate handle. It had bright blue fabric woven tightly across it in a diamond pattern and shone a bright polished silver in all the other places. It didn’t look like much, but the forger had assured them it was one of the better blades that they’d ever produced and that it was still around because of the steep price tag that accompanied it. But, since the boys didn’t have many other expenses besides the occasional meal (as most were provided by the cooks of the Main Building) and sometimes a book or two if Nino was feeling like spending money, between the two of them they had more than enough.
Nino grinned brightly as Ohno gingerly picked up the gift from the box (the younger ninja was generous enough to hold onto the package so it didn’t fall to the ground) and dusted off some of the flakes of wood sticking to the scabbard. Nino pulled the box over and closed it so it was out of the way and allowed Ohno to enjoy his present thoroughly.
Still holding it as if it would break, Leader pulled the blade out slightly and Nino could tell it was a lot smoother than Ohno’s current weapon. It shone brightly in the sun as Ohno turned it around, gazing at it as though he thought it would disappear if he looked away.
“I think he likes it,” Sho said to Nino, looking past Ohno’s dazed face to the other boy, his cheeks puffed with a mouth full of dango.
Nino smiled back at him, feeling happier than he had in a while. “Uh huh.”
After a few more minutes of silent admiration, Ohno turned back to Nino again. “Thank you…” he said quietly. Nino nodded at him, smiling widely, and then Ohno turned to Sho and repeated the gratuitous remark.
“You’re welcome, Oh-chan! Happy Birthday!” he replied with energy, then patted Leader on the back.
+++
Ohno couldn’t believe how much of a difference a new sword made.
Even when he was simply running his forms, it felt lighter in his hand, smoother. It seemed like he was cutting the air with the blade instead of just swinging a stick around.
Besides that, there was something about the present that just felt right in his hands. He could have been imagining it, since Sho and Nino had given him the gift and therefore it was more precious to him than the regularly issued katana, but he knew that he was far more comfortable now with the weapon than he had been prior to his birthday.
At the moment, Leader was practicing in their designated clearing, concentrating on sensing the air sweep around him as he moved his blade.
Nino was to his left, working through his own physical exercises with a pair of sais. He was on the ground, doing pushups with the handles of the weapon, the point tucked against his forearms in the proper hold.
Sho was a little farther into the forest, practicing on a target course that he had made himself only a few weeks after moving in with the other two. There were ten targets of different sizes in various locations, and Sho was currently practicing drawing his bow to hit the targets while climbing a tree. It looked insanely difficult, but he had to come up with some sort of challenge to keep his talent honed.
As time passed, Nino left the site, returned with a jug of water for the three of them to share, and then challenged Sho to an archery contest. Ohno watched in amusement, stretching his warm muscles, as Nino insisted they were going to wear eye masks. They both fumbled around in their equipment before pulling out two pieces of cloth and rolled them into proper blindfolds.
The two younger boys took their stance in front of one of the bigger targets while Ohno helped them properly place each of their eye covers. He backed up to let them have their space, and wondered if he should try practicing with his sword wearing something similar.
Sho went first at Nino’s insistence and hit the target with ease, although not directly in the middle. He took another two shots, his actions as fluid as ever, but none of them hit the red dot he had painted on the white cushion. Nino told him to keep his blindfold on while Nino went, just in case they needed to go another round (“Oh-chan’ll tell us.”). Unbeknownst to Sho-chan, though, Nino raised his blindfold off one eye and hit the red dot three consecutive times. He pulled down the cloth with a grin to Ohno, then mumbled something about them checking the target.
Nino’s arrows had been painted yellow on the tips and so when Sho examined the target his mouth fell open. He turned to the other archer with an incredulous expression.
Ohno couldn’t control himself from grinning, but apparently it wasn’t enough to give away Nino’s trick.
Sho looked at the target again and blinked at it, as though that would change the outcome of the contest.
Nino couldn’t hold back his own smile after witnessing such a dumbfounded expression from Sho, and he began to giggle uncontrollably after his look didn’t change.
“What?” he asked Nino, obviously demanding an answer for how he had been beaten. The younger boy only started laughing harder. “You cheated, didn’t you?!”
“I didn’t… cheat…” Nino replied between gasping breaths. Ohno was giggling now, too, and Sho still seemed like he had no idea what had happened. He looked back to the target, as if trying to figure out why the arrows all remained in the same place.
Nino fell to the ground, laughing so hard he had to grasp his sides. Ohno was snickering with him, although not as violently, and he plopped down onto the ground next to his friend, looking up at Sho with a relaxed grin.
Sho tried to hold back his own smile at the lightheartedness of the situation but eventually gave in and started chuckling with the other two.
Nino had tricked him somehow, but Sho didn’t really care. Nino was laughing.
w
He sat down on the ground next to his comrades, Nino lying on his back now, and watched as the youngest finally calmed down enough to take steady breaths.
It had seemed like ages since Nino had laughed quite that hard and it was due more to Sho’s dumbfounded expression at being tricked than at the prank itself.
Nino sighed and looked up through the trees towards the light blue sky. He missed this. He missed sitting around with Ohno and just talking and being kids. Why didn’t they have time to be kids?
Lately it seemed like every second of the day Nino was thinking about death; not only of the assassination mission and all the killings that occurred following it, but also morbid thoughts of Ohno or Sho or even himself dying. What would he do if he lost either of his friends? Nino wasn’t sure he could survive after being separated from another family, especially as close as the three of them were getting.
He would never hesitate again, that was for sure. Nino had learned a valuable lesson: if you wanted to survive, you had to survive.
Even if that meant killing people.
Even if that meant killing innocent people.
If it had been Ohno standing there and Nino had still held back his strength…
The boy closed his eyes gently and tried to curb the melancholy ideas. Just when he was finally starting to feel happy once more, the same thoughts began to rise to his attention again.
The way the man’s eyes looked before he died replayed itself behind Nino’s lids, even though he tried to think of something else, something happier. He could still see that desperate look, the realization that he was dying and that there was nothing he could do about it. Nino couldn’t help but see that same look replay on Ohno’s face, then again on Sho’s.
He would never hesitate again.
Nino covered his eyes with his hands as tears started to come again. It seemed like they were threatening to spill at any time of day anymore and that there was nothing that could be done to keep them at bay.
“Nino?” Sho asked softly, his voice troubled. Nino couldn’t look at him.
He just wanted to be with his friends, to be happy together. Was that too much to ask for?
Pushing himself into a seated position and wiping the stray tears off his face, Nino forced a smile at Sho, then assured him it was nothing.
He was just randomly bursting into tears when they had been laughing a moment ago. Yeah, right. It was nothing.
Sho lifted his hand and rested it lightly on Nino’s shoulder, the younger boy looking down at his own hands in shame. He had given Nino several pep talks over the last few days, saying he would get used to the feeling, this is what being a ninja was about.
Nino had nodded in response and just told himself he’d sleep next to Sho just one more night and then he’d be able to get back into his own without waking up with nightmares.
Ohno’s other hand gently touched Nino’s knee, which caused the younger ninja to jerk his head to the side to look at Leader. The older boy was giving him a consoling gaze and although Nino wasn’t sure that Ohno really understood what he was feeling right now, at least he was making an effort to comfort him.
Nino thought he would start crying again.
The boy swallowed back the emotion, but decided to immediately bring up something that had been inside of his head (more so now than before the assassination), never breaking his gaze with the Leader.
“Ohno. You’ve killed before, haven’t you?” Nino asked, although he already knew the answer. He had witnessed his friend do so more times than he cared to remember, it was just something that the two of them had never talked about.
Maybe Leader could provide some new insight that Sho hadn’t, since he hadn’t offered any advice on the topic before now. It was possible that he had something to say and just hadn’t said it because it didn’t seem that important; Ohno tended to do that.
There was a tense silence, although the oldest ninja never tore his gaze away from Nino, before he answered.
“Yes.”
Nino swallowed back another wave of emotion. Of course he had. Why had he even asked?
Although the two of them had known each other for almost five years, Nino knew close to nothing about Ohno’s past and Leader hadn’t ever volunteered any information. If Nino asked him a simple question like how many brothers did he used to have or where’s your family now? Ohno would simply look distant and then shrug, or, if pressed, answer with a simple I don’t know. Needless to say, Nino had stopped asking.
He had collected a few details from Jyani and the other ninja after he moved into the Main Building, but by then the time for bringing it up with his friend was far gone. He knew Ohno’s birthday, obviously, and he knew that Ohno’s family was probably dead and that Jyani and begun to take care of him sometime after whatever incident had arose. He also had figured out that Ohno would eat just about anything and liked to go fishing.
Otherwise, Nino only knew what he had picked up himself from his conversations with Ohno, which, honestly, didn’t seem like anything substantial.
“How many?” Nino asked with a tinge of fury in his voice. He could feel tears at the corner of his eyes again. “How many people have you killed?”
“I don’t know,” Ohno replied immediately with a neutral expression.
But his hand twitched on Nino’s knee and the youngest boy suddenly broke down again.
Nino wished Ohno would say something like I know, it hurts. He wished he would pull him closely into his chest and rub his head and tell him that everything would be okay and they could run away together and the three of them didn’t have to be ninjas, didn’t have to kill people, they could be traveling musicians and Nino could learn how to do magic and…
Nino began sobbing into his hand. The words that Ohno didn’t say were heavier than the ones he did.
+++
The three boys stood outside the sliding door of the mission hall, Ohno looking down at the floor and wishing he could send the other two back to bed.
They had returned from a mission late last night.
The mission had been to release a group of captives from a caravan of illegal slave traders. It had been a success, like usual, but, like usual, Ohno didn’t feel the satisfaction he should have.
They hadn’t had many important jobs in the last few months, mostly due to their lack of synergy (or so Ohno thought), but before this one Jyani had pulled him aside and told him not to mess it up, that this could be very important to the community. If any of the ex-slaves, some of which had been with the caravan for over a year, wanted to join the ninja village, he would allow them to. This was an excellent opportunity because the captives would feel indebted to the clan for saving them and even if their only skill was to cook, they certainly hadn’t run out of any of those positions in their small town.
Besides, anyone who had been captured deserved the right to make their own freedom, he had said.
Ohno wasn’t sure if it was really freedom that would be found here, though.
In the end, they only recovered six hostages, two men and four women, and each of them had begged to return to their families.
Without even attempting to convince them otherwise, the boys escorted them the short way to the next village and then opted to run half the night to return home instead of sleeping in the elements.
Nino had killed one of the traders, this time without pausing for a second. He had hit him in the back of the head with a discarded spear and then ran him through the chest, rescuing the woman the trader had been trying to use as a shield.
Ohno thought he had been very collected through the whole thing and that Nino had done an impeccable job, but the compliment died before it even reached his tongue. Nino had given him a hollow look, then helped the woman stand.
They had arrived home and collapsed onto Ohno’s futon as a group, pulling Nino’s extra blanket to cover all three bodies, and passed out in a heap on the floor.
In the morning, Ohno was woken by Nino sobbing into his chest. Sho was on Nino’s other side, and he began rustling only a few seconds after Leader had regained consciousness.
The youngest ninja was having a nightmare.
He was whimpering stop, stop, and Ohno started to shake him, lightly at first and then harshly when his friend didn’t wake up. He only stopped when Nino’s eyes fluttered open, overflowing with tears again.
Sho had placed his hand on Nino’s clammy forehead and whispered in a kind voice “It was just a dream…” Ohno’s hands had remained in a vice grip on Nino’s shoulder until his friend had stopped shaking.
Only an hour after that rude awakening, one of Jyani’s assistants had politely knocked on the door, and told the group, if they were ready, Jyani was available for their mission status report.
Unsure of what to do, but knowing that available was simply a polite way of saying get your ass up, Ohno had somehow coaxed Nino and Sho, who had both fallen back into a light doze, out of bed and down the hall.
It had taken about ten minutes for Nino to write up the report, and they were kept waiting that long in the hallway for whatever preparation Jyani needed.
Finally, just as Ohno was about to ask for a seat for Nino, who had dark bags under his eyes and seemed to be on the verge of collapse, the sliding door opened and the three of them shuffled in.
Jyani made some light talk (which was happier than it should have been at that time of morning) and politely asked if the boys had anything to add besides the details provided in the report.
When none of them responded (Nino’s eyes had fluttered shut and Ohno had to reach out and grab his shirt to keep him from completely falling over from his seated position), Jyani offered them another wide, mischievous smile. He spoke with an excited voice, obviously unable to hold in his anticipation.
“I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
+++
A/N: I'd say this chapter was a bit light hearted, but I guess Nino's depression ruined that... Although the meat of the story is slowly coming to the surface, so I'd love to hear your comments. :) Thanks for reading!
How's the banner, by the way? Too simple? Too Ohno-y? And I'm going to be busy this month, traveling, so we'll see if I can keep updating regularly if you can call it that I got distracted and almost didn't remember.
Chapter five
Rating: PG13 (for mild violence)
Pairing: TBA, Ohno-centric
Genre: action, AU
Chapter: four
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Ohno Satoshi is the student of a strong ninja lord who has lived his life following his teacher’s strict guidance. But what happens when he slowly learns he has to live for himself?
Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three
In the months following the assassination, it was obvious the group had changed. When it had only been Nino and Ohno, they had worked together effectively, but there was always an energetic edge, an optimism that they were lucky to be working and showing their skills instead of rotting away on the street somewhere.
But now, even though they had the same confidence as before, Nino had become snide and sarcastic and because of that, the group had lost their vigor.
Their missions turned out perfectly every time, but Jyani could see that Nino was quieter than usual, not objecting to any missions (most of which had gone down in rank, although they were still harder than when the group had only been a pair) and had stopped boldly meeting Jayni’s eyes during their meetings. He was docile now, at least around the ninja master, but when the lord saw the group outside of the meeting hall the boy usually had a bitter smirk strapped to his face.
Jyani knew it couldn’t be helped, but that didn’t stop him from pitying the boy as well as his two comrades.
Today they had just returned from another mission (Jyani had lost count of how many the group had completed since Sho had arrived), one that should have been easy, especially with Satoshi’s tracking ability. There had been a man kidnapping girls from a village a few ri from the capital city. It was an estimated two days travel from the ninja village, but Satoshi’s group had made it in half the time (although that hadn’t come as much of a surprise to Jyani).
The mission had been complicated. The citizens of the city in which the girls had lived knew the man that had kidnapped them as well as a vague location of where they were being kept, but they had no solid proof of what was happening. And, not only could they not put him on trial because of that, but the Village Master had also signed a pledge against unwarranted violence, meaning that the villagers couldn’t reprimand the perpetrator themselves. Instead, they had scraped together enough money to hire Jyani’s Boys (the fame of the group had spread farther than just their own village: it was rumor now if you wanted to the job done right you went to Jyani; if you wanted the job done perfectly, you asked for Jyani’s Boys). Although the ninja master had been getting many requests for Ohno’s group, he filtered these fairly effectively, either assuring the client he’d have another adept group cover the mission or reject the offer for the time being.
His boys were progressing rapidly, that was true, but there was still a step process that they had to follow. The mundane, simple missions had to be completed before they would be prepared for the harder ones. But that didn’t mean that Jyani didn’t challenge them occasionally, and this was a contributing factor that led Jyani to accept this particular mission for the boys.
They had been dispatched after Jyani briefly listened to their strategy, and, as the ninja lord was looking over the report a few minutes after they had left him, he realized they had done an impeccable job.
And once they returned, Jyani still felt the same.
After picking up a little more information from the villagers (Sho had mentioned during the brief they had been treated with care by the townsfolk and had to refuse several presents offered to them-apparently they didn’t realize that their names were becoming known even outside their own community), it appeared Satoshi had led the group in the direction indicated, picking up tracks of, not only of a man, but also several women. They followed the trail and found a rundown cottage in the surrounding forest, although it showed no signs of any occupants.
With caution, the three boys had surrounded the house: Sho on the roof, Nino at the back window, and Ohno at the front door. After they were in place, Leader broke it down, his sword brandished, but before Ohno could dispose of the man properly, the villain had hidden himself behind several teenage girls immobilized by rope and silenced with cloth in their mouths.
Satoshi paused, as he should have in such a situation, and before the man could make any threats, Sho had broken through the roof, distracting him long enough for Nino to make his own entrance and slit his throat.
None of the women were harmed. The boys had accompanied them back to the edge of the village, but had departed soon after, as the mission was supposed to be somewhat discreet because of the Village Master. As far as the villagers were concerned, it had been a coincidence that the man had died (maybe one of the hostages had broken free?) and that each of the girls were accounted for.
After they had returned, Jyani listened to all of this with amusement, but missed the lack of jokes that no doubt with have been present if Kazunari had been his old naïve self. The ninja leader had to restrain himself from making side comments about a perverted old man and what did he need with that many women?
It had been another successful mission. He should be proud, especially at the complexity of the setup, but somehow Jyani knew that something was still missing, almost more now than when he had added Sho.
+++
Back in their room, Ohno was feeling almost exactly the same way.
Nino’s lack of energy had taken a toll on the leader, who had been trying to make up for it by being goofier than usual. Of course he wasn’t as good at it as Nino was, and his jokes weren’t nearly as intelligent, but he occasionally succeeded in making his friend really smile or giggle. It never lasted long, but every time it did happen, Ohno felt like maybe everything would be okay.
Sho had also taken to trying to cheer Nino up, but his gags, Ohno had soon discovered, were actually more like mistakes than an attempt to make Nino smile. The first time Sho had tripped on a rock and landed flat on his face, Ohno and Nino had laughed until they couldn’t breathe, and after Sho’s disgruntled look at the two of them, Nino fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. After seeing such a good reaction from Nino, Sho had smiled as well, but it wasn’t even five minutes later that Nino had been back to his melancholy self. He had tried to force a grin to cover the sudden change, but Ohno could see the difference.
The next time, they had been training in their usual clearing, which had expanded a little due to the addition of Sho, when suddenly the two old friends had heard a call from a nearby tree. With a furrowed brow from Ohno and a worried look from Nino, they scaled the tree only to find Sho entangled in some ivy hanging from the branches. He had somehow managed to twist himself up in it (neither of the other boys could figure why he was even up there in the first place) and one of his legs was caught as high as his shoulder, leaving Sho looking plainly ridiculous.
Ohno had thanked him later and Sho had simply looked at him in confusion.
“For trying to make Nino feel better…” Ohno had clarified with a blank expression.
Sho had blushed. “Oh… I… uh… yeah, yeah. I was trying to make Nino feel better…”
Ohno wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but either way, the result was the same (he’d just have to start watching out for Sho getting too close to ivy during their missions).
Maybe Nino would finally start returning to himself.
+++
Birthdays weren’t a big deal for ninja.
But for some reason Sho and Nino decided that Ohno’s 15th birthday was something worth celebrating.
He had been out fishing that day, since it was a day off after a particularly hard mission, and when he had returned, he found Nino and Sho discussing something rather intensely in their private room. At that point Ohno hadn’t even remembered what day it was and looked at them quizzically, since they stopped talking as soon as he opened the door.
Nino had brightened up immediately and Sho gave him an awkward smile. Ohno couldn’t help but return the action, although his own grin was rather lopsided. He didn’t know what was going on, but he was happy that Nino was acting lighthearted today instead of having to deal with the depression that had been hanging around his friend lately.
Ohno continued to stare at the two of them with a clueless smile while they looked back without offering an explanation.
Nino was the one to eventually break the silence. “Oh-chan?”
Satoshi only brightened at the nickname. It felt like it had been so long since Nino had called him that.
His lips turned up a little farther as he silently asked what Nino wanted from him. He’d give him the world if that smile stayed on his friend’s face a little longer.
Nino looked at Sho questioning before tentatively asking “Shall we go out?”
Sho nodded at Nino and mumbled a positive response, the nervous smile still in place.
The two of them stood and pulled Ohno back the way he came, barely giving him enough leeway to drop his fishing pole in the corner.
Ohno didn’t ask, just continued to show his bliss-filled expression as Nino slung a hand over one of his shoulders and Sho tentatively covered the other, the three of them heading towards the village.
“Oh-chan, you didn’t eat anything yet, right?” Nino asked cutely, offering him another small grin.
“No, I haven’t…” the boy replied, the oblivious look still in place on his face. Although Ohno was almost two and a half years older than his long-time friend, they were roughly the same height and fit together comfortably. Sho, though, seemed to have already hit his growth spurt and so Ohno had to look up as the archer finally contributed to the conversation.
“How about some ramen, then?” His awkwardness had vanished and now he just seemed like he was enjoying himself with the other two.
“Yeah, that sounds good!” Nino chimed in, touching Ohno’s head lightly with his own as he looked at Sho.
Ohno just continued to smile.
The shop that the group frequented was one of the only full-time businesses in the village. They made pretty much any food you could request and didn’t have a set menu, but Nino always asked for ramen and therefore Ohno did too. It was hard to mix it up after you got into a habit.
When they sat down at their regular spot at a short wooden bar, the shop owner bustled out from the back storage room and gave them a prompt nod and a grin. “The usual, then?” he asked, and all three of them nodded in unison, then laughed because they had done so.
Nino usually sat in the middle, but today they waited until Ohno sat down first, and then the other two surrounded him. The leader thought it was mildly strange, but it couldn’t be the same all the time, right?
Their steaming bowls of soup came quickly and, although Ohno was preoccupied with slurping the tasty noodles, he spared some of his attention to trying to figure out why the two of them were acting strange. It wasn’t in a bad way, really, just… suspicious.
They finished the meal in no time at all and Ohno patted his belly with a satisfied sigh. It had been delicious, as it always was. He told the owner as much and received a thankful smile in return.
Leader reached into his sash to pull out a few coins, but Nino stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Here you are,” he said, already passing the money to pay for their meal.
Nino, the ninja who was infamous in the village for talking down the price of his book purchases by fifty percent from the merchant who traveled back and forth to their village. Nino, the ninja who would volunteer to run errands for the kitchen at the Main Building because sometimes he got to keep the change. Nino, the ninja who had forced Ohno and Sho to eat rice balls with pickled filling instead of salmon because it was slightly cheaper.
This Nino was paying for Ohno’s meal.
He was confused again.
“Nino, you don’t have to-“ he started with a furrowed brow, but his friend cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“Nah, it’s okay. How about some desert?” The youngest ninja smiled happily and Ohno simply couldn’t argue with him.
“Sure…”
With a wave to the stop owner, the trio stepped back onto the street, Nino sighing happily and looking around, apparently deciding where they should have desert. Actually, the only option was the local food shop, which made dango and sweet rice cakes to sell.
Without verbalizing the decision (since it was obvious to all of them) Nino led the way to their next stop. It wasn’t even five steps later when he fell backwards, though, to where Sho had started dragging his feet behind the couple, and elbowed the newest member roughly in the side. Ohno stopped and looked at them, but Nino was forcing a tense smile and staring at Sho while he rubbed his waist with a pinched expression.
“Oh!” the archer said suddenly, his voice forced. “I forgot something.” He smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “I need to run back to the Main Building, but I’ll catch up with you guys at the store?”
Ohno blinked at him, but Nino smirked knowingly and muttered, “That’s fine!”
As Sho took off back the way they had come, Nino skipped forward and grabbed Ohno by the arm, pulling him towards their destination.
They were greeted with another glowing smile and light bow from this shop’s owner, a middle aged woman, and she immediately filled their request for three sticks of dango.
And Nino paid again.
Ohno thought for a second he might be dreaming, but he was sure the Nino in there wouldn’t be offering to pay for anything either.
The real life Nino did talk the owner into a minor discount, though, since he had bought three and hadn’t he helped her with that favor a few months ago, and so Ohno figured he probably wasn’t dreaming.
The two of them sat down on a bench in front of the store, facing the main street of the village, and waited for Sho to return. Nino already began to nibble on his treat, and although Ohno felt he should wait until Sho rejoined them, when he didn’t show up within thirty seconds, he started on his as well.
As they were finishing, they noticed Sho heading down the street towards them quickly, a bundle in his hands. Ohno wondered what it was that Sho had forgotten and why it was so big.
The boy didn’t stop running until he was right in front of them, panting from the physical exercise, and leaned over with the package still in his hands, which turned out to be a cheaply made wooden box, long and flat, resting on his thighs.
Ohno blinked at him and then held out Sho’s share of the dango.
The boy opposite him began to laugh, although he was still out of breath, and Ohno heard Nino’s own giggling at his side. Ohno didn’t understand what was so funny, but a second later, Sho took the dango and handed him the box instead.
“Happy Birthday, Oh-chan!” he said merrily, sitting in the open space on the other side of Ohno.
The oldest boy looked at Sho, then at the box in his hand (which was half lying in Nino’s lap), and then at his childhood friend, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Happy Birthday, Oh-chan!” Nino repeated. He motioned to the box. “Me and Sho-chan got you a present.”
Ohno looked at the box in surprise. He’d never gotten a present before, outside of a shiny rock that Nino had found once and the hand-me-down finishing pole that Jyani had passed on to him.
“You…?” he looked at the box again, unsure of what he had meant to say.
“Open it! Open it!” Nino cheered, bouncing in his seat a little, while Sho took a large bite of his desert.
Ohno swallowed, but pushed back the lid of the box.
Inside, packed in sawdust, was a beautiful, shiny sword.
Nino watched happily as his friend’s face turned from surprised, to pleased, to embarrassed. Ohno looked back at him, then at Sho, unable to say anything. When he turned back to the gift, he reached inside the box and touched the scabbard tentatively, running his fingers along the length of the sword.
He couldn’t lie. Nino was proud of the present the two of them had thought up. Sho had suggested that they do something for Ohno’s birthday and although that wasn’t really a custom that happened around this area, Nino was glad for an excuse to see Ohno lighten up. It seemed like since Jyani had named him Leader that he’d been struggling between being friends with the two of them and being a good example. Nino thought he had done a fine job of that before Sho had ever come into their lives, but Ohno over-thought things surprisingly often for how simple-minded he was. Although Nino knew that he was in a funk too, somehow making Ohno happy took precedence over his own.
The sword had been mostly Sho’s idea too, although Nino wouldn’t admit it. The older boy had suggested they get something practical that wouldn’t weight Ohno down, preferably something that he needed.
Although Ohno didn’t exactly need a new sword, since he kept his sharp, clean, and generally in good shape, it was the only idea that the two of them had come up with. Besides, Ohno had been using the same sword for as long as Nino could remember, and he thought that Ohno had mentioned once that Jyani had issued it to him and that it was fairly standard equipment.
The pair had gone out early that morning, waiting until Ohno had left the Main Building, and had talked with the man at the forge about what he had available. Since they lived in a ninja village which was always in need of a steady arsenal of weapons, the forge was considerably large when you took into account the size of the town, and therefore had a decent selection of tools for them to look at. Nino had told the metal worker to disregard price and give him the best katana they had.
Although the design was almost identical to Ohno’s usual sword, this one had a slightly more intricate handle. It had bright blue fabric woven tightly across it in a diamond pattern and shone a bright polished silver in all the other places. It didn’t look like much, but the forger had assured them it was one of the better blades that they’d ever produced and that it was still around because of the steep price tag that accompanied it. But, since the boys didn’t have many other expenses besides the occasional meal (as most were provided by the cooks of the Main Building) and sometimes a book or two if Nino was feeling like spending money, between the two of them they had more than enough.
Nino grinned brightly as Ohno gingerly picked up the gift from the box (the younger ninja was generous enough to hold onto the package so it didn’t fall to the ground) and dusted off some of the flakes of wood sticking to the scabbard. Nino pulled the box over and closed it so it was out of the way and allowed Ohno to enjoy his present thoroughly.
Still holding it as if it would break, Leader pulled the blade out slightly and Nino could tell it was a lot smoother than Ohno’s current weapon. It shone brightly in the sun as Ohno turned it around, gazing at it as though he thought it would disappear if he looked away.
“I think he likes it,” Sho said to Nino, looking past Ohno’s dazed face to the other boy, his cheeks puffed with a mouth full of dango.
Nino smiled back at him, feeling happier than he had in a while. “Uh huh.”
After a few more minutes of silent admiration, Ohno turned back to Nino again. “Thank you…” he said quietly. Nino nodded at him, smiling widely, and then Ohno turned to Sho and repeated the gratuitous remark.
“You’re welcome, Oh-chan! Happy Birthday!” he replied with energy, then patted Leader on the back.
+++
Ohno couldn’t believe how much of a difference a new sword made.
Even when he was simply running his forms, it felt lighter in his hand, smoother. It seemed like he was cutting the air with the blade instead of just swinging a stick around.
Besides that, there was something about the present that just felt right in his hands. He could have been imagining it, since Sho and Nino had given him the gift and therefore it was more precious to him than the regularly issued katana, but he knew that he was far more comfortable now with the weapon than he had been prior to his birthday.
At the moment, Leader was practicing in their designated clearing, concentrating on sensing the air sweep around him as he moved his blade.
Nino was to his left, working through his own physical exercises with a pair of sais. He was on the ground, doing pushups with the handles of the weapon, the point tucked against his forearms in the proper hold.
Sho was a little farther into the forest, practicing on a target course that he had made himself only a few weeks after moving in with the other two. There were ten targets of different sizes in various locations, and Sho was currently practicing drawing his bow to hit the targets while climbing a tree. It looked insanely difficult, but he had to come up with some sort of challenge to keep his talent honed.
As time passed, Nino left the site, returned with a jug of water for the three of them to share, and then challenged Sho to an archery contest. Ohno watched in amusement, stretching his warm muscles, as Nino insisted they were going to wear eye masks. They both fumbled around in their equipment before pulling out two pieces of cloth and rolled them into proper blindfolds.
The two younger boys took their stance in front of one of the bigger targets while Ohno helped them properly place each of their eye covers. He backed up to let them have their space, and wondered if he should try practicing with his sword wearing something similar.
Sho went first at Nino’s insistence and hit the target with ease, although not directly in the middle. He took another two shots, his actions as fluid as ever, but none of them hit the red dot he had painted on the white cushion. Nino told him to keep his blindfold on while Nino went, just in case they needed to go another round (“Oh-chan’ll tell us.”). Unbeknownst to Sho-chan, though, Nino raised his blindfold off one eye and hit the red dot three consecutive times. He pulled down the cloth with a grin to Ohno, then mumbled something about them checking the target.
Nino’s arrows had been painted yellow on the tips and so when Sho examined the target his mouth fell open. He turned to the other archer with an incredulous expression.
Ohno couldn’t control himself from grinning, but apparently it wasn’t enough to give away Nino’s trick.
Sho looked at the target again and blinked at it, as though that would change the outcome of the contest.
Nino couldn’t hold back his own smile after witnessing such a dumbfounded expression from Sho, and he began to giggle uncontrollably after his look didn’t change.
“What?” he asked Nino, obviously demanding an answer for how he had been beaten. The younger boy only started laughing harder. “You cheated, didn’t you?!”
“I didn’t… cheat…” Nino replied between gasping breaths. Ohno was giggling now, too, and Sho still seemed like he had no idea what had happened. He looked back to the target, as if trying to figure out why the arrows all remained in the same place.
Nino fell to the ground, laughing so hard he had to grasp his sides. Ohno was snickering with him, although not as violently, and he plopped down onto the ground next to his friend, looking up at Sho with a relaxed grin.
Sho tried to hold back his own smile at the lightheartedness of the situation but eventually gave in and started chuckling with the other two.
Nino had tricked him somehow, but Sho didn’t really care. Nino was laughing.
w
He sat down on the ground next to his comrades, Nino lying on his back now, and watched as the youngest finally calmed down enough to take steady breaths.
It had seemed like ages since Nino had laughed quite that hard and it was due more to Sho’s dumbfounded expression at being tricked than at the prank itself.
Nino sighed and looked up through the trees towards the light blue sky. He missed this. He missed sitting around with Ohno and just talking and being kids. Why didn’t they have time to be kids?
Lately it seemed like every second of the day Nino was thinking about death; not only of the assassination mission and all the killings that occurred following it, but also morbid thoughts of Ohno or Sho or even himself dying. What would he do if he lost either of his friends? Nino wasn’t sure he could survive after being separated from another family, especially as close as the three of them were getting.
He would never hesitate again, that was for sure. Nino had learned a valuable lesson: if you wanted to survive, you had to survive.
Even if that meant killing people.
Even if that meant killing innocent people.
If it had been Ohno standing there and Nino had still held back his strength…
The boy closed his eyes gently and tried to curb the melancholy ideas. Just when he was finally starting to feel happy once more, the same thoughts began to rise to his attention again.
The way the man’s eyes looked before he died replayed itself behind Nino’s lids, even though he tried to think of something else, something happier. He could still see that desperate look, the realization that he was dying and that there was nothing he could do about it. Nino couldn’t help but see that same look replay on Ohno’s face, then again on Sho’s.
He would never hesitate again.
Nino covered his eyes with his hands as tears started to come again. It seemed like they were threatening to spill at any time of day anymore and that there was nothing that could be done to keep them at bay.
“Nino?” Sho asked softly, his voice troubled. Nino couldn’t look at him.
He just wanted to be with his friends, to be happy together. Was that too much to ask for?
Pushing himself into a seated position and wiping the stray tears off his face, Nino forced a smile at Sho, then assured him it was nothing.
He was just randomly bursting into tears when they had been laughing a moment ago. Yeah, right. It was nothing.
Sho lifted his hand and rested it lightly on Nino’s shoulder, the younger boy looking down at his own hands in shame. He had given Nino several pep talks over the last few days, saying he would get used to the feeling, this is what being a ninja was about.
Nino had nodded in response and just told himself he’d sleep next to Sho just one more night and then he’d be able to get back into his own without waking up with nightmares.
Ohno’s other hand gently touched Nino’s knee, which caused the younger ninja to jerk his head to the side to look at Leader. The older boy was giving him a consoling gaze and although Nino wasn’t sure that Ohno really understood what he was feeling right now, at least he was making an effort to comfort him.
Nino thought he would start crying again.
The boy swallowed back the emotion, but decided to immediately bring up something that had been inside of his head (more so now than before the assassination), never breaking his gaze with the Leader.
“Ohno. You’ve killed before, haven’t you?” Nino asked, although he already knew the answer. He had witnessed his friend do so more times than he cared to remember, it was just something that the two of them had never talked about.
Maybe Leader could provide some new insight that Sho hadn’t, since he hadn’t offered any advice on the topic before now. It was possible that he had something to say and just hadn’t said it because it didn’t seem that important; Ohno tended to do that.
There was a tense silence, although the oldest ninja never tore his gaze away from Nino, before he answered.
“Yes.”
Nino swallowed back another wave of emotion. Of course he had. Why had he even asked?
Although the two of them had known each other for almost five years, Nino knew close to nothing about Ohno’s past and Leader hadn’t ever volunteered any information. If Nino asked him a simple question like how many brothers did he used to have or where’s your family now? Ohno would simply look distant and then shrug, or, if pressed, answer with a simple I don’t know. Needless to say, Nino had stopped asking.
He had collected a few details from Jyani and the other ninja after he moved into the Main Building, but by then the time for bringing it up with his friend was far gone. He knew Ohno’s birthday, obviously, and he knew that Ohno’s family was probably dead and that Jyani and begun to take care of him sometime after whatever incident had arose. He also had figured out that Ohno would eat just about anything and liked to go fishing.
Otherwise, Nino only knew what he had picked up himself from his conversations with Ohno, which, honestly, didn’t seem like anything substantial.
“How many?” Nino asked with a tinge of fury in his voice. He could feel tears at the corner of his eyes again. “How many people have you killed?”
“I don’t know,” Ohno replied immediately with a neutral expression.
But his hand twitched on Nino’s knee and the youngest boy suddenly broke down again.
Nino wished Ohno would say something like I know, it hurts. He wished he would pull him closely into his chest and rub his head and tell him that everything would be okay and they could run away together and the three of them didn’t have to be ninjas, didn’t have to kill people, they could be traveling musicians and Nino could learn how to do magic and…
Nino began sobbing into his hand. The words that Ohno didn’t say were heavier than the ones he did.
+++
The three boys stood outside the sliding door of the mission hall, Ohno looking down at the floor and wishing he could send the other two back to bed.
They had returned from a mission late last night.
The mission had been to release a group of captives from a caravan of illegal slave traders. It had been a success, like usual, but, like usual, Ohno didn’t feel the satisfaction he should have.
They hadn’t had many important jobs in the last few months, mostly due to their lack of synergy (or so Ohno thought), but before this one Jyani had pulled him aside and told him not to mess it up, that this could be very important to the community. If any of the ex-slaves, some of which had been with the caravan for over a year, wanted to join the ninja village, he would allow them to. This was an excellent opportunity because the captives would feel indebted to the clan for saving them and even if their only skill was to cook, they certainly hadn’t run out of any of those positions in their small town.
Besides, anyone who had been captured deserved the right to make their own freedom, he had said.
Ohno wasn’t sure if it was really freedom that would be found here, though.
In the end, they only recovered six hostages, two men and four women, and each of them had begged to return to their families.
Without even attempting to convince them otherwise, the boys escorted them the short way to the next village and then opted to run half the night to return home instead of sleeping in the elements.
Nino had killed one of the traders, this time without pausing for a second. He had hit him in the back of the head with a discarded spear and then ran him through the chest, rescuing the woman the trader had been trying to use as a shield.
Ohno thought he had been very collected through the whole thing and that Nino had done an impeccable job, but the compliment died before it even reached his tongue. Nino had given him a hollow look, then helped the woman stand.
They had arrived home and collapsed onto Ohno’s futon as a group, pulling Nino’s extra blanket to cover all three bodies, and passed out in a heap on the floor.
In the morning, Ohno was woken by Nino sobbing into his chest. Sho was on Nino’s other side, and he began rustling only a few seconds after Leader had regained consciousness.
The youngest ninja was having a nightmare.
He was whimpering stop, stop, and Ohno started to shake him, lightly at first and then harshly when his friend didn’t wake up. He only stopped when Nino’s eyes fluttered open, overflowing with tears again.
Sho had placed his hand on Nino’s clammy forehead and whispered in a kind voice “It was just a dream…” Ohno’s hands had remained in a vice grip on Nino’s shoulder until his friend had stopped shaking.
Only an hour after that rude awakening, one of Jyani’s assistants had politely knocked on the door, and told the group, if they were ready, Jyani was available for their mission status report.
Unsure of what to do, but knowing that available was simply a polite way of saying get your ass up, Ohno had somehow coaxed Nino and Sho, who had both fallen back into a light doze, out of bed and down the hall.
It had taken about ten minutes for Nino to write up the report, and they were kept waiting that long in the hallway for whatever preparation Jyani needed.
Finally, just as Ohno was about to ask for a seat for Nino, who had dark bags under his eyes and seemed to be on the verge of collapse, the sliding door opened and the three of them shuffled in.
Jyani made some light talk (which was happier than it should have been at that time of morning) and politely asked if the boys had anything to add besides the details provided in the report.
When none of them responded (Nino’s eyes had fluttered shut and Ohno had to reach out and grab his shirt to keep him from completely falling over from his seated position), Jyani offered them another wide, mischievous smile. He spoke with an excited voice, obviously unable to hold in his anticipation.
“I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
+++
A/N: I'd say this chapter was a bit light hearted, but I guess Nino's depression ruined that... Although the meat of the story is slowly coming to the surface, so I'd love to hear your comments. :) Thanks for reading!
How's the banner, by the way? Too simple? Too Ohno-y? And I'm going to be busy this month, traveling, so we'll see if I can keep updating regularly if you can call it that I got distracted and almost didn't remember.
Chapter five